What a Project actually is

A Project is a folder inside Claude that holds three things: your uploaded files (the "knowledge base"), a set of custom instructions, and all the chats you have inside that project. Every conversation in the project can see the files and follows your instructions automatically. You set it up once. Then every chat starts with Claude already knowing what you need.

Projects are free for all users — you get up to five. Paid plans (Pro, Team, Enterprise) give you more capacity and the ability to share projects with colleagues.

How to set one up

Go to claude.ai/projects and click + New Project. Give it a clear name — "Q3 Board Report" or "Weekly Client Emails," not "Stuff." The name is for you; Claude doesn't read it.

Next, add files to the knowledge base. Click the + button on the right side of your project page. Upload your style guide, a brief, a template, sample outputs — whatever Claude needs to do the job well. Clean your files before uploading. Remove headers, footers, and irrelevant pages. The less noise, the better the answers.

Then write your custom instructions. This is the most important step. Tell Claude what the project is for, what role it should play, and how you want replies formatted. Be specific:

You are helping me write [type of work, e.g. weekly status updates]. Audience: [who reads this, e.g. my manager and the project team] Tone: [e.g. professional but not stiff, plain English, no jargon] Format: [e.g. bullet points, under 200 words, always include a "next steps" section] Rules: - Use Australian English spelling - Never invent facts — ask me if you're unsure - Reference the uploaded [document name] for context on the project

That's it. Start a new chat inside the project and Claude already knows the brief, the tone, and the rules. No re-explaining.

Three projects worth setting up first

Email drafter. Upload your company's tone guide and a few example emails you've sent. Set instructions for length, sign-off style, and formality level. Every email you draft inside this project sounds like you wrote it.

Meeting notes processor. Upload your team's action-item template. Tell Claude to pull out decisions, owners, and deadlines from pasted transcripts. Same format every time, no extra prompting.

Document reviewer. Upload your organisation's report template and style rules. Paste drafts in and ask Claude to check structure, flag missing sections, and tighten the language.

One thing to watch

Each project is isolated. Your "Email" project can't see files from your "Reports" project. This is actually useful — it keeps Claude focused — but it means you'll need to upload shared files (like a style guide) to each project that needs them.

💡 This week's action

Pick one task you repeat weekly — status updates, email replies, or meeting notes. Create a Project for it at claude.ai/projects. Upload one reference file and write three lines of custom instructions. Use it for this week's version of that task and see how much re-explaining you skip.